Improving Transparency for the American People Act of 2019

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 526 Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to implement the first set of recommendations adopted by the Select Committee on the Mod- ernization of Congress. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mr. GRAVES of Georgia, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. ROD- NEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. POCAN, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. TIMMONS, and Mr. NEWHOUSE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to implement the first set of recommendations adopted by the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Resolved, 1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 2 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Improving 3 Transparency for the American People Act of 2019’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR526.IH HR526 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 526 IH SEC. 2. ADOPTION OF STANDARDIZED FORMAT FOR LEGIS- 1 LATIVE DOCUMENTS. 2 The Clerk is authorized and directed to provide peri- 3 odic updates to the Committee on House Administration 4 and the Committee on Rules regarding the implementation 5 of the U.S. Legislative Markup and a plan for its comple- 6 tion including a timeline. 7 SEC. 3. LEGISLATION COMPARISON PROJECT. 8 The Clerk shall report to the Committee on House 9 Administration and the Committee on Appropriations an 10 assessment of the funding and other resources needed to 11 expedite and complete the legislation comparison project, 12 including the training of staff. 13 SEC. 4. ASSIGNMENT OF UNIQUE IDENTIFIERS FOR RE- 14 PORTS FILED BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS. 15 (a) ASSIGNMENT OF IDENTIFIERS.—The Clerk, in 16 consultation with the Secretary of the Senate, shall estab- 17 lish and implement a process under which the Clerk shall 18 assign a unique identification number with respect to each 19 person who files a registration statement or other report 20 required to be filed with the Clerk under the Lobbying 21 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and shall 22 ensure that such unique identification number will be used 23 for all purposes under such Act (including the public avail- 24 ability of such statements and reports) with respect to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR526.IH HR526 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 526 IH each statement or report filed by that person with the 1 Clerk under such Act. 2 (b) DEADLINE.—The Clerk shall establish and imple- 3 ment the process required under subsection (a) not later 4 than 180 days after the date of the adoption of this resolu- 5 tion. 6 SEC. 5. DATABASE OF INFORMATION ON EXPIRATION OF 7 AUTHORIZATIONS OF PROGRAMS. 8 (a) DUTIES OF THE CLERK.—Clause 2 of rule II of 9 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 10 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 11 ‘‘(l) The Clerk shall— 12 ‘‘(1) establish and maintain on its public 13 website an up-to-date database of the expiration 14 dates of all Federal programs and the committee of 15 subject matter jurisdiction over each such program; 16 ‘‘(2) provide that such database is searchable, 17 sortable, and downloadable; and 18 ‘‘(3) post all such information within 30 days 19 after receipt of such information.’’. 20 (b) DUTIES OF COMMITTEES.—Rule X of the Rules 21 of the House of Representatives is amended by adding at 22 the end the following new clause: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR526.IH HR526 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 526 IH ‘‘Duty to provide certain information to the Clerk 1 ‘‘12.(a) Except as provided by paragraph (b), each 2 standing committee shall provide to the Clerk on an ongo- 3 ing basis an up-to-date list of the expiration dates of all 4 programs within its subject matter jurisdiction so the 5 Clerk can post the information required by clause 2(l) of 6 rule II. 7 ‘‘(b) The requirements described in paragraph (a) do 8 not apply to the following committees: the Committee on 9 Appropriations, the Committee on Ethics, and the Com- 10 mittee on Rules, and the Permanent Select Committee on 11 Intelligence.’’. 12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The committees referred to 13 in the amendment made by subsection (b) to clause 12(a) 14 of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives 15 shall provide to the Clerk the information so required not 16 later than 90 days after the date of adoption of this sub- 17 section. 18 SEC. 6. DATABASE OF VOTES TAKEN IN COMMITTEES. 19 (a) DUTIES OF THE CLERK.—Clause 2 of rule II of 20 the Rules of the House of Representatives (as amended 21 by section 5) is further amended by adding at the end 22 the following new paragraph: 23 ‘‘(m) The Clerk shall— 24 ‘‘(1) establish and maintain on its public 25 website a separate database for the 116th and each 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR526.IH HR526 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 526 IH subsequent Congress of all recorded votes in commit- 1 tees except for the Committee on Ethics or for any 2 votes taken in executive session, and ensure that the 3 database is up-to-date, sortable, and downloadable 4 on a committee-by-committee basis; and 5 ‘‘(2) incorporate information on such votes on 6 the database with respect to a committee imme- 7 diately upon receipt of the relevant information from 8 the committee under clause 13 of rule X.’’. 9 (b) DUTIES OF COMMITTEES.—Rule X of the Rules 10 of the House of Representatives (as amended by section 11 5) is further amended by adding at the end the following 12 new clause: 13 ‘‘Duty to provide certain information to the Clerk 14 ‘‘13.(a) Each standing and select committee shall 15 provide to the Clerk the information respecting recorded 16 votes in that committee so the Clerk can post on a timely 17 basis on its website the information required by clause 2(l) 18 of rule II. For any recorded vote, such information shall 19 be transmitted to the Clerk not later than the 72 hours 20 after the vote is recorded. 21 ‘‘(b) In providing information to the Clerk under 22 paragraph (a), the committee shall include a brief descrip- 23 tion of the matter on which the recorded vote was taken, 24 including the name of each member of the committee vot- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR526.IH HR526 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HRES 526 IH ing on that matter and whether the vote was in the affirm- 1 ative or the negative and the total tally of the votes. 2 ‘‘(c) The requirements described in this clause do not 3 apply to the Committee on Ethics or to any vote taken 4 in executive session.’’. 5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 6 subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to votes taken 72 or 7 more hours after the Clerk notifies all committees that the 8 database established under clause 2 of rule II of the Rules 9 of the House of Representatives has been established. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR526.IH HR526 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS